I'm Proud To Lead This Team - Paynter

Billy Paynter has admitted his surprise and honour after he was named as Pools’ new captain by boss Ronnie Moore during a live broadcast on Sky Sports News.

The 31-year-old was among the ten summer signings rounded up to be quizzed about Pools on Sky Sports News as part of their annual #92Live where they visit every club in England.

And after the fun of finding out who knew the most about the Club, Moore revealed that he had settled on Paynter as the new owner of the armband for 2015/16.

“It was a big of a surprise,” Paynter explained.

“The manager has had a couple of captains over pre-season so to be told live on Sky Sports News that it was going to me came as a big surprise really!

“It’s definitely a role I will look forward to though; I’ve never been a captain before but to be honest you usually don’t need an armband because we need all the players to be captains.

“It just shows how quickly things can change in a year – I wasn’t playing football and I was out of favour but I’ve been given a fresh start here and a new lease of life and now this is a massive boost in confidence to be given the armband.

“It’s a real privilege and I will be very proud to lead the team out on Saturday – hopefully I will be able to have my kids walk out with me and share that moment.

“And I am sure I will have my old mate Sweens (Antony Sweeney) on the phone later; I know he was captain here before so I am following in good footsteps.”